Icy rain froze the plug in the charge inlet. I thawed it with warm towels. A small clip came off in my hand that looks like it might be part of the latching mechanism. I brought the clip and cable to the dealership and they were not able to reinstall it for me. A 30-year Toyota tech worked at it for a while. There was another PIP in the lot to compare (see photos). The first is mine and the second shows the missing piece. Their solution: purchase new plug for $220 plus labor of $300 to install! Service manager would not run this under warranty. There has GOT to be a better solution. 3D print the part? Locate part from wrecked car? Your ideas are most appreciated.
What broke was akin to the striker-plate on a regular household door. It is not electrical, and its only job is to provide an edge for the trigger latch to grab when you go to click the plug in place. You don't want the plug getting loose in the socket, so you should give it something to lock onto. The best solution that immediately comes to mind would be to shape a lump of 2-part clay-like epoxy into the appropriate little straight-edge flat plate. It looks like you can press it into the two rectangular holes and also on both sides to keep it in place. Then, just watch and be sure it doesn't sag and that it cures in the proper flat shape that you want. Give it a good 24 hours before you test it. My favorite epoxy is PC-7, but any shapeable epoxy should suffice.
In future, keep an old paint brush or whatever with the car, something to brush the crud off. Guessing it absorbs/retains water at the connection, and then it freezes.
Agree with @4est. The missing part is to prevent wear, but it's not worn yet, so why spend $520 plus tax to put in a part that won't work any better than what's there now? That said, it looks like a simple matter to find a piece of steel banding like they use to strap loads onto pallets, make it into a tab to replace what came off (assuming the original is lost), and epoxy it in place. You could make it good as new for the cost of the adhesive and a little elbow grease.
Jerry, it took quite a bit of force to get the plug to engage; often my wife would come ask me to do it as she couldn't.. I see some of you have removed the hardened red "O" ring. Should I try that?
I think Toyota removed them in 2013. At least I haven't heard of any '13s or newer with the o-ring. It really serves no purpose and eventually fails anyway. It won't hurt to remove it unless the car goes underwater while plugged in, at which point water in the charging port would not be your biggest problem. I charge mine in the rain a lot. Never had an issue of any kind. But I've never charged it in freezing rain. Also, I noticed lots of debris in your picture. Maybe the picture was just bad timing, but I like to keep that area clean since there are close fits and lots of electrons there.
The plug does not NEED to grip. It just needs to make contact and the micro switch on the plug needs to close
And there may be crud hidden back there that's keeping the hook from going all the way down and closing the switch.
I've had to karate chop my J1772 cord handle release button to unplug during freezing rain. Then there was so much ice and snow build up the door couldn't latch closed. What I'd like is a flexible 'shroud' that is held to the car with a soft surface with flexible magnetic strips in sides. This shroud would cover the whole charge port, door and charge handle. Any crafty, etsy people out there? Wonderful business opportunity ! It would need to be made out of light flexible vinyl or silicone rubber. Just a sheet of material with a soft magnetic edge on 3 sides. I'd buy one !!! This guy has a solution! BMW i3 Charge Port Snow Cover But the door and door jam are still going to be iced up.....
